AFL 2024: Richmond study sessions key part of Gold Coast build

Richmond may be removing references to its golden years, but Damien Hardwick’s new side is still soaking in the Tigers era.

Gold Coast co-captain Touk Miller is proud of where the club is heading. Picture: Brendon Thorne / Getty Images

While Richmond tries to symbolically move on from its triple premiership dynasty, Damien Hardwick is going back to the well to help drill in his game plan at the Suns.

Footage of the Tigers at their best might not have a place at Punt Road in the post-Hardwick era, but it is has formed a key part of Gold Coast’s development as they adjust to a significantly different system under their new coach.

The Suns could experience teething issues early in the season like GWS when it learnt Adam Kingsley’s game plan, and their forward line badly struggled to click against Brisbane in last week’s practice match, but co-captain Touk Miller said the players were confident they would be ready to execute Hardwick’s vision from Opening Round.

Miller said one of the best ways to learn had been watching vision of Hardwick’s Richmond, and he had no issue with the source material coming from another club.

Watching footage of the successful Tigers side led by coach Damien Hardwick (right) has been helping the Suns adjust to his game plan ahead of the 2024 season. Picture: Chris Hyde / Getty Images

“You watch a few things where Dimma is using Richmond’s clips, but that makes a lot of sense – it’s his game plan and his system, so the only way he can show that and express that to the group is by using that,” Miller said.

“I’m sure he’s refined and tweaked a few things that are more suited to us, but in saying that I feel like we’ve got a group that can execute his game plan to a tee, and he believes that as well.

“It makes us full of confidence that we’re ready to roll out with what he’s taught us.”

Miller, known for his animosity towards Brisbane and in particular the Lions’ former captain Dayne Zorko, said Hardwick’s great friendship with Lions coach Chris Fagan from their time together at Hawthorn would do little to ease tensions between the fierce rivals on the field.

“They’re in the coaches’ box, we’re in the field … I think it won’t have too much in it,” Miller said.

“In the short time I’ve known Dimma, I definitely know he doesn’t like to lose, so I imagine on game day he’ll enjoy the rivalry.”

Touk Miller (right) says the friendship between coaches Damien Hardwick and Chris Fagan does not mean the heat will subside when Gold Coast and Brisbane meet this year. Picture: Dylan Burns / Getty Images

The Suns skipper said he still disagreed with his controversial one-match suspension for an alleged “squirrel grip” on Zorko, which had initially been cleared by the MRO before Zorko questioned the decision on radio and the AFL eventually charged Miller with conduct unbecoming.

Asked whether he wanted to see the rules clarified to avoid another process like his this season, Miller said it wasn’t his place to weigh in.

“Sometimes I reflect on that and wish I hadn’t been suspended, but there’s only so much you can do,” he said.

“It turned out to be out of my hands – I kind of moved on from that, I don’t have too much of a view on where that goes next.”

Miller is excited by the new deals signed by young stars including Ben King (pictured) and Sam Flanders. Picture: Chris Hyde / Getty Images

More than five years after he called out then co-captains Tom Lynch and Steven May in a players-only meeting as they planned to leave the club, Miller said he was “incredibly proud” to now form part of a stable core of senior players heading into 2024.

He said Ben King’s two-year contract extension last week, after gun midfielder Sam Flanders signed on for four years in September, indicated how invested players were in the club.

“I think it just makes me proud to be a Gold Coast man, the fact we now feel we’ve created an environment where players want to grow and be a part of where we’re going,” Miller said.

“It shows in blokes committing to the club again – it’s happened a number of times over the past few years, and I think for where the Gold Coast is going to be you need that, you need the security, you need blokes who are going to want to be there and be consistent.

“I think we’ve got that, and I’m very proud we’ve got an opportunity to go forward with a really strong core group of players.”